Record 274 Climbers Scale Mount Everest in Single Day via Nepal Route

A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest from the Nepalese side on Wednesday, the Tourism Department said, surpassing the previous one-day record of 223 set on May 22, 2019.

Climbers seized favorable weather conditions to attempt the summit after a late start to the spring season caused by a large block of ice obstructing the climbing route, Tourism Department official Khimlal Gautam told Everest Chronicle.

The ascents began at 3 a.m. local time and continued for 11 hours, Gautam added.

On May 22, 2019, 223 climbers scaled the mountain from the southern side in Nepal, with an additional 113 climbers reaching the summit via the northern route in Tibet. However, China has closed the northern route to foreign climbers this season.

Nearly 500 foreign climbers have been issued permits to scale the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak this year, also a record high, as experts warn of overcrowding and other safety risks.

Most climbers attempt the ascent with at least one Nepali guide, who are not required to obtain permits.

Photographs circulating on social media this week show a long line of mountaineers winding across snowy slopes in the so-called “death zone,” the section of the mountain at least 8,000 meters above sea level.

Most climbers rely on supplemental oxygen at this altitude, and mountaineering experts advise against staying in the zone for more than 20 hours.

Tourism to the world’s tallest mountain has continued to surge this year despite an increase in permit fees.

Since September last year, climbers have paid $15,000 (£12,180) for a permit, up from the longstanding fee of $11,000, the first fee increase in nearly a decade.

Expedition organizers have acknowledged the risks of congestion but say they can be managed.

“If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem,” Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told Reuters news agency.

“Some mountains in the Alps see thousands of climbers on their summits each day,” he added. “So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger.”

Veteran mountaineers and Everest novices were among those who reached the summit in the last week, and many set new benchmarks with their climbs.

On Sunday, renowned Nepali mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, smashed his own world record for the most summits of Everest, scaling it for the 32nd time.

That same day, 52-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa, known as the “Mountain Queen,” broke her personal record for the most ascents by a female climber, after her 11th Everest summit.

Russian double-leg amputee Rustam Nabiev, 34, reached the top on Thursday without the use of prosthetics.

However, this climbing season has also seen several deaths.

The casualties include Bijay Ghimere, the first mountaineer from Nepal’s underprivileged Hindu Dalit community to scale Everest. The 35-year-old had suffered from altitude sickness, reports say.

Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, 21, died after slipping on snow and falling into a crevasse near Camp 3 on Monday, while another guide, 51-year-old Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, died on his way to Base Camp on May 3.